Are you in the mood for a ‘90s nostalgia trip? Then, you got it, dude. A Fool House concert is a wild combination of all your favorite boy bands, pop stars, hip hop and pop punk to come out of the ‘90s.
“Like [a] Spotify or Apple Music best of the ‘90s Playlist live. All the genres, all the Billboard Top 100 from ‘90 to ‘99, even touching into 2000,” Gary Hochstetter, lead singer and self-proclaimed rock monger for Fool House, said. “The over-the-top production, over-the-top performance, the baggy pants, the neons, the fanny packs and all that fun stuff.”
Drummer Jon Lewchenko started the band back in 2015. He was playing in other cover bands in the Chicago area, where the band is based, and had the idea of starting a ‘90s-style cover band.
With an abundance of ‘80s tribute bands out there, the ‘90s is the obvious next step as the years go on.
“That’s kind of what we all grew up with,” Hochstetter said. “As all the members joined, it fit and made sense. That’s the type of music that people our age and that we would want to go out and see and be entertained by.”
The name comes from a play on the iconic show “Full House” that ran from 1987 to 1995.
“He [Lewchenko] was just trying to think of something pop related from the time that we could kind of play with,” Hochstetter said. “It just worked, with the logo and all that. We tried it, and it stuck.”
In any of these types of acts and tribute shows, you can go through a Rolodex of members before you find the right mix of people. Hochstetter didn’t join the band until a few months after its beginning. “It was a different lineup at that time, but I’ve been there pretty much ever since.”
The current band comprises of Hochstetter and Lewchenko, Dave Ada on bass, and Todd Hoskin on guitar.
“It’s fun, especially as a vocalist,” Hochstetter said. “We do every genre, so I get to have some fun up there [on stage] and do all sorts of different things and see different things. It’s helped me vocally by stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new things.”
The band travels throughout the country, giving audiences a taste of what’s all that and a bag of chips. And that is one of Hochstetter’s favorite parts of being in the band, besides performing.
“If I could perform 365 days a year, I would; I absolutely love it,” Hochstetter said. “But outside of that, traveling with the guys is just a circus on wheels, so it’s fun.”
With a larger-than-life production, Fool House recreates the sights, sounds, and energy of the ‘90s. Sing-alongs, throwbacks and choreographed dance routines are what the show is all about.
“It’s very high energy, lots of jumping, especially if the stage is big,” Hochstetter said. “I love a bigger stage as opposed to a small stage because it gives me more room to move around and get into it, but you got to kind of prepare your legs and stretch for that.”
All band members take relatively good care of themselves to continue performing for years to come. Hochstetter does a lot of stretching, vocal warmups and drinks lots of water.
“That’s pretty much it. We’ll start doing that about an hour before the show,” Hochstetter said.
Fool House performed in Iowa for the first time on February 24 at The Roof Garden Ballroom in Arnolds Park, Iowa and on February 25 at The Olympic SouthSide Theater in Cedar Rapids. And the group will return on May 5, 2023, for a performance at Wooly’s in Des Moines.
“I know it’ll be a great time because we’ve already got a lot of people coming out,” Hochstetter said. “Definitely looking forward to it.”
Find out more about Fool House at foolhouseband.com
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